Aviation News in Brief 6 Nov 2019

VietJet CEO named Asia-Pacific CEO of The Year: VietJet CEO Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao has been named the APAC CEO of The Year at the 2019 Aviation 100 Awards held in Hong Kong. One of the world’s most prestigious awards in the world of aviation, the Aviation 100 Awards is based primarily on an independent and objective industry survey. The title APAC CEO of The Year was awarded to VietJet’s CEO not only for her success as the leader of VietJet but also the airline’s vast contribution to the growth of the aviation industry in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. One of a few female leaders in the global aviation industry, Thao has been honoured with numerous awards and accolades since the airline’s first flight took off in 2011. In September 2019, Forbes named her one of Asia’s Powerful Businesswomen. ICON awards given in Hong Kong: The AsBAA Icons of Aviation 2019 took place on 2 November 2019 in Hong Kong with 300 industry guests attending and raising US$35,000 for Orbis. The list of the 2019 winners includes: Best Manufacturer: Gulfstream Aerospace; Best Management Company/Operator: TAG Aviation; Best Business Service Provider:  Global Jet Capital; Best Operational Support Services: Universal Weather & Aviation; Best Ground Handling Agent: Hong Kong Business Aviation Centre; Best MRO Provider: Jet Aviation; Best Charter Brokerage: TAG Aviation; Best Aircraft Sales Broker: Jetcraft Asia; Best AOC Charter Operator: VistaJet; Best Media: Asian Sky Group; Most Innovative Company: Satcom Direct; Trailblazer of the Year: Yini Lin; Mike Davis (Lifetime achievement award): John Rosanvallon. Inmarsat unveils new SwiftBroadband Helo X-Stream: Inmarsat said it has launched  SwiftBroadband Helo (SB-Helo) X-Stream, a new system for X-Stream services specifically developed for rotary aircraft. The system is designed to achieve advanced streaming performance on intermediate and high-gain antennas, alleviating the connectivity constraints traditionally caused by rotary blades. SB-Helo X-Stream is an enhancement of Inmarsat’s X-Stream service and builds on the company’s commitment to further meet the needs of government customers and partners. The new technical solution will expand the resilience of the service on the aircraft by mitigating against data packet loss. The new solution was officially launched at the Vertical Flight Expo & Conference in Farnborough. Based on testing conducted earlier this year, the helicopter-grade SB-Helo X-Stream service has been proven to achieve a 40 percent reduction in data packet loss compared to the standard background IP service, as well as delivering throughputs of up to 400kbps per single channel. Multiple channels can be aggregated enabling enhancements in the overall performance of the system. GE Aviation signs asset transfer system deals: GE Aviation has signed an agreement with Falko Regional Aircraft to provide the AirVault Asset Transfer System across its portfolio of Regional Aircraft including Bombardier, Embraer, BAe Systems and ATR airplanes. The implementation is expected to start in Q4  2019. The Asset Transfer System is a collaborative tool that streamlines and simplifies the way that leased asset documentation is managed between airlines and lessors by allowing operators to organise records in accordance with industry standard. The system enhances the efficiency of lease returns several ways by helping operators harmonise and standardise files, perform collaborative document reviews with their lessor partners, and transfer files through an intuitive digital user interface which includes SPEC 2500 functionality. GE Aviation also announced it has teamed up with BBAM Aircraft Leasing & Management to provide the AirVault Asset Transfer System across a fleet of 510 aircraft including Airbus, Boeing and Embraer airplanes used by more than 90 airlines. BBAM will start using the system by December 2019, followed by a six-month evaluation. Start-ups join Airbus accelerator programme: Airbus has selected 22 new start-ups to join its BizLab for the launch of the fifth accelerator programme, providing a platform to develop previously untapped technologies and ways of working in the aerospace sector. During the six-month acceleration programme, the start-ups will receive support from an international team of experts from various fields and have access to dedicated coaching staff, networking opportunities and co-working spaces. Hailing from nine countries around the world, the twenty-two new start-ups were selected out of 704 applications from 59 countries. One of the main criteria used in the selection process were the synergies between the start-up projects and Airbus’ sustainability, environment and innovation strategy in the fields of reduction of emissions and alternative propulsion technology, additive manufacturing, data analytics, robotics, smart protection and testing systems and artificial intelligence. The selected start-ups will join a unique consolidated global network and be based on one of Airbus’ four BizLab campuses; Toulouse (France), Hamburg (Germany), Bangalore (India) and Madrid (Spain). Airbus BizLab is a global aerospace business accelerator where start-ups and Airbus ‘intrapreneurs’ speed-up the transformation of innovative ideas into valuable businesses. Since starting in 2015, Airbus BizLab has used this “hybrid” concept to accelerate 72 start-ups and 54 internal projects. To download a full description of each of the 22 start-ups, please click here.